Bus systems, in which a previously established user of the bus system or a separate pilot signal generator is provided to generate a pilot signal to which the other users of the bus system may synchronize themselves, are known in the related art. This known method and this known bus system are subject to the disadvantage, however, that a malfunction of the user who emits the pilot signal, i.e., the pilot master, or the separate pilot signal generator results in a malfunction of the entire bus system.